Please help solve an argument!!

Danni1979

Hiya all
Me and y OH keep having really high elec bills,we are in a all electric property so have E7 and storage heaters and not including our storage heaters from the perios 02/10/08 to 30/12/08 we used 1465 units!!

Now i am really pi**ed off with the high bills we keep on getting,i rang an energy helpline and they told me as long as something is "plugged in" then it is usuing elec ie laptop,toaster,phone charger,lamps

BUT

My OH insists that if something has a solid on off switch ie toaster,kettle lamp then it shouldnt beusing ANY elec and also even in laptop and phone charger is plugged in,if nothing is attatched to it,then it shouldnt be usuing elec??

So if anyone out there can settle this arguent once and for all i wouldd appreciate it.
Thanks
D

Magentasue

If you switch off at wall, off is off. If you switch an appliance off, it should be off but I'm pretty sure it isn't always the case.

Cardew

There is no real answer to the question.

'non-electronic' electrical appliances(toaster/iron/heater/kettle/lamp) will not use anything when switched off.

Lots of electronic appliances(not all) will use very small amounts of electricity when the on/off switch - mostly this will be pence per year - although some older DVDs/VCRs/PCs will use more.

KimYeovil

Toasters, kettles etc should be zero even if socket is switched on.

Chargers will have a very small trickle if switched on - if the plug/transformer gets warm when nothing is connected, switch them off (this is more for safety than a significant money saver.)

As to laptops, routers, freeview boxes - they should also be switched off. Not because they are expensive if left on, but the relative times they are used and not used are disproportionate. That is, if you only watch two hours of television per night then leaving a freeview box on standby for twenty-two hours will be significant in context. Similarly, leaving a laptop in sleep mode for twenty hours may just cost a few pennies but it is still unused.

1carminestocky

It's not just about the age of the appliance, either, it mostly depends on how seriously the particular manufacturer has always taken the whole 'eco-friendly' approach. For instance, my (lovely! :A ) Philips Cool Green 32" CRT TV is 8 years old now (geriatric!) but uses precisely 0.3 watts in standby mode!

Magentasue

More importantly, though, you're saying that you're using about 16kwh a day, not including storage heaters. I assume you're on Econ 7 and these are your peak (daytime) units?

We are a family of six and I consider us to be high users although I try to be careful and avoid wasteful use (leaving lights on, TV on in empty room etc). We averaged 13kwh a day summer and about 16kwh a day winter. By day, I mean over 24 hours.

penrhyn

Danni, if you use you immersion heater during the day this may account for some of your usage.
Switch everything you use off and check your meter stops spinning.

Danni1979

Thanks so much for the repiles
Yes i do really think that our usage is WAY too high considering there is only me and my OH in our 2 bed bungalow!!
We are so concious of every penny we spend and yet we just cant see to cut our usage down Grrrr..
Our Immersion is on night time only heat up so that shouldn't be taking anything?
You are correct in that this is our daytime units and not night units.
Think will have to switch everything off liek you say and test the meter.
Thanks
D

Magentasue

Do you have a dishwasher? Plasma TV? PS3? Tumble drier? Any plug in heaters?

Danni1979

We dont have a dishwasher or tuble dryer or plug in heaters(too expensive,lol)But we do have a ps3 and lcd tv,and the dvd player in the bedroom,freesat box and lcd all have lights on even when switched off..

Fire_Fox

Anything that has a little light or digital display on it (microwave, electric oven, some kettles/ toasters) or gets warm even when not in use (many laptop and phone chargers) is using electricity. Probably not much but it is using some.

Go around the house and list EVERYTHING that is plugged/ hardwired in plus all lights etc. Then work out how long everything is used for and how often. Main culprits other than heating are immersion heaters, electric showers, tumble dryer, washing machine, dishwasher, oven.